Self-playing musical instrument.



N0. 66l,920. Patented Nov. 13, 1900.

J. OCONNOR. SELF PLAYING MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

(Application filed Feb. 5, 1900.; (No Model.) 4 Sheets$heet I.

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(Application filed Feb. 5, 1900.)

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No. 66l,920.

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SELF PLAYING MUSICAL INSTRU MENT.

(Application filed Feb. 5, 1900.) (No Model.)

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S E Q Inventor James OComwr B My No. 66|,920. Paten'ted Nov. 13, 1900.

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SELF PLAYING MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

(Application filed. Feb. 5, 1900.

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(No Model.)

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BNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES OCONNOR, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SELF-PLAYING MUSICAL lNSTRUMENT.

SPEGIFIGAJIION formingpart of Letters Patent in). 661,920, dated Noveinber 13, 1900.

Application filed February 5,1900. Serial No. 4,092. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES OCONNOR, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of the city of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Self-Playing Musical Instruments and Note-Sheets Therefor, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in the arrangement of the actuating devices of various machines and instruments employing a controlling tally or note sheet made of material, such as paper, which is liable to expand and contract under the varying influences of changes in the atmosphere, the object of the invention being to compensate for these changes by expansion and contraction, so that the actuating perforations or other devices of the note or tally sheet shall register or coincide perfectly with the devices which they actuate under all atmospheric conditions. The machines to which such controlling note or tally sheets are or may be applied include voting, tabulating, and registering machines and self-playing musical instruments of various kinds, the invention being herein illustrated and described in its adaptation to instruments of the latter class.

Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings are plan views of my improved varispaced music or tally sheet and its tracker-bar. Fig. 3 is a side view showing an ordinary method of feeding music-sheets like that of Fig. 1 across the tracker-bar of Fig. 2. Fig. at is a front view of a portion of the tracker-bar of Fig. showing the tubes by means of which the trackerbar apertures communicate with the pneumatic motor devices which they respectively operate. Figs. 5, 6, and 7 represent varying relations of my note-sheet and trackerbar in three of the possible conditions of service. Fig. 5 represents the note-sheet in its assumed normal condition. Fig. 6 represents the same note-sheet when it is contracted to its utmost, and Fig. 7 represents the same sheet in a maximum condition of expansion. Figs. 8, 9, and 10 represent similar positions of a note-sheet spaced uniformlyin the ordinary way, and illustrate the difficulties hitherto encountered in such sheets. Fig. 8 represents the sheet in its assumed normal condition, in which position alone do its perforations coincide accurately with the apertures of the tracker-bar. Fig. 9 represents the sheet of Fig. 8 in its condition of extreme contraction, while Fig. 10 represents the same sheet in a condition of extreme expansion. Figs. 11 and 12, respectively, are plan views showinga modified arrangement of the spaces of my improved note-sheet and its trackerbar. Fig. 13 is a plan view showing the notesheet of Fig. 11 and the tracker-bar of Fig. 12, illustrating the adaptability of this arrangement to permit lateral movement of the sheet without getting out of register independently of the expansion or contraction of the sheet.

In the operation of self-playing musical instruments and machines of a similar class it is customary to arrange the actuating devices, fingers, or keys side by side in a line and to actuate these devices by means of a longitudinally-traveling strip or web having corresponding parallel rows of perforations which are intended to coincide with the respective actuating devices or fingers, so that the actuation of each of the latter is independently controlled by its corresponding row of perforations in the traveling controller or note-sheet, as it is commonly designated. When used in connection with a musical instrument, as here shown, the related or concerted action of the devices is determined by the relative position of the perforations longitudinally of the sheet, which is fed forward at a uniform rate by suitable driving apparatus. Most instruments of this class are operated by means of air-pressure, which is admitted to a series of apertures 26 and 27, ar ranged in line in a tracker-bar 28, these apertures being independently connected with their corresponding pneumatic actuating devices by means of'the tubes 29, which are ordinarily made of rubber or other flexible ma terial. The admission of air to the individual tracker-bar apertures is controlled by perforations in a longitudinally-traveling notesheet which is wound upon rolls l8 and 19, as illustrated in Fig. 3, the sheet being drawn from one roll to the other by means of suitable motor devices. These sheets are also sometimes joined to form an endless loop which is guided across the tracker-bar by means of suitable guiding-rolls. These note sheets are ordinarily made of paper, because the result is an imperfect, slower, or incomof its cheapness, compactness, and flexibility, and because of the ease and cheapness of reproducing and transporting music in this form. This medium is, however, open to the serious objection that it is very sensitive to changes in the humidity of the atmosphere, expanding in a humid atmosphere and contracting when the air is dry sufficiently to carry its perforations partly or entirely out of coincidence with the corresponding apertures of the tracker-bar. This difficulty obviously increases with the width of the sheet. Therefore it has hitherto been considered necessary to avoid the use of wide note-sheets, and where a large number of notes are to be played it has been customary to make the apertures of the note-sheet and of the trackerbar as small as is consistent with the proper operation of the respective devices, to make these apertures of equal width, uniformly spaced laterally of the sheet, and as close together as possible. Under these circumstances it is found that these equispaced notesheets are liable to get out of register with their respective apertures in the tracker-bar because of the lateral contraction and expansion of the sheet. This is illustrated in Figs. 8, 9, and 10. The apertures 21 are here shown to be of equal width and equally spaced across the note-sheet 20 and the tracker-bar 23. They are therefore in proper register with the apertures 22 of the tracker-bar 23 only when the note-sheet is in its normal or particular condition at which it was perforated, as shown in Fig. 8. Nhen contracted, as in a dry atmosphere, to the extent represented in Fig. 9 by the space shown between the edge of the sheet and the normal-width lines 24, if the apertures at the centerline 17 of the sheetsubstantially coincide the apertures toward the edges of the sheet are carried out of register to the extent shown in Fig. 9, so as to considerably reduce the effective area of the coincident portions of the apertures and, what is a still more serious objection, to frequently expose also portions of the wrong apertures of the tracker-bar, thus making discord in the music. A. similar and equally objectionable result is illustrated in Fig. 10, in which the note-sheet 20 is expanded to an equal extent beyond the normal, as shown by a comparison with the normal-width lines 24. Here also toward the edges of the sheet the effect is to reduce the area of the coinciding apertures of the music-sheet and tracker-bar and also in extreme cases, as shown by the outside perforations, to uncover the wrong aperture. In the arrangement and proportioning of the apertures they are usually made no larger than is required for the proper performance of their respective functions in order to make the note-sheets as narrow as possible. Therefore when the effective area of the opening is still further reduced by this lack of perfect coincidence between the apertures of the tracker-bar and the note-sheet plete performance of those functions.

In theplaying of instruments which are intended to produce orchestral effects and which contain sounding devices for producing the varied effects of strings, reeds, organpipes, bells, &c., it is necessary to provide a separate aperture for each of these notesounding devices in each of the notes sounded by them. It would not be practicable, for example, to provide only a single tracker-bar aperture for the sounding of the note C in all of its qualities and to divide the tube leading from this aperture into branches leading to the C-note-sounding devices of the strings, reeds, organ-pipes, and bells, respectively, since this arrangement would defeat its own purpose for the production of orchestral effects, for whenever a particular portion of the music might properly call for the sounding of the reed-notes only all the others must necessarily sound also, being inseparably connected with the same openings in the trackerbar. Hence the necessity of providing a separate aperture for each note-actuating device for the strings, reeds, organ-pipes, and bells, respectively. This requires the use of so many apertures that if they were equally spaced side by side in the usual way upon a single note-sheet the latter would be so wide that its lateral contraction and expansion would be open to the objections above referred to.

In previous attempts to avoid the use of a wide note-sheet on account of its variations by contraction and expansion, as above set forth, the entire series of perforations has been divided and arranged upon two or more comparatively narrow sheets, each operating upon its own section of the tracker-bar. This arrangement, however, introduces still other difficu[ties-nannely, of spacing these parallel series of notes in exact coincidence longitudinally of the respective sheets and also of feeding these sheets forward with perfect uniformity because of variations in the lengths of the music-sheets through changes in the humidity of the atmosphere, which seldom affects the several note-sheets alike. In order to be effective and satisfactory, corresponding notes of the different notesheets must be played in exact coincidence as to time. The slightest variation in time between the operations of these different note-sheets is fatal to the perfection of the music rendered. These difficulties have necessitated the employment of more or less complicated feeding apparatus for insuring this necessary uniformity of action between the different sections of music-sheet, compensating for the longitudinal variations referred to. All these feeding mechanisms are more or less cumbersome and expensive, and none of them are so effective in results as when all the note-perforations are arranged upon a single integral controllingnote-sheet. 'ihcsedifficulties and objections are obviated in the present in vention by making each aperture of the trackerbar wide enough to allow for the lateral movements of its corresponding note-sheet perfo ration due to the lateral contraction and expansion of the sheet, starting from an assumed base-line, preferably the longitudinal center of the sheet, which is assumed to be maintained in constant relation to the trachea bar. The widths of these apertures of the tracker-bar therefore increase in accordance with their distances from the base-line, determined by the ratio or coefficient of expansion or contraction of the paper for that distance. The entire series of note-perforations is contained in a single integral controlling note-sheet, and these a re varispaced in accordance with the spacing of the apertures of the tracker-bar, or, in other words, in accordance with the ratio of expansion or contraction of the paper lying between the respective aperture and the base-line from which the expanding and contracting movement occurs. By this arrangement a single note-sheet may be extended wide enough to contain any desired number of rows of note-perforations.

This invention is illustratedin its simplest form in Figs. 1 and 2. The apertures of the tracker-bar 28 are in varying pitch or distance from center to center in accordance with the ratio of expansion and contraction of the material to be employed as a note-sheet. It is here assumed that the longitudinal center line of the sheet is'to be maintained in coincidence with the center of the tracker-bar. Therefore the aperture 27 is used as a basis or starting-point, the Width and pitch of the apertures 26 on either side of this central aperture being increased in accordance with the ascertained ratio of expansion of the notesheet 30. This increasing width of the succeeding tracker-bar apertures in either direction from the longitudinal center or base line 27 plus the width of the partition between those apertures is substantially the measure or amount of the increase of pitch between the corresponding apertures 81 of the notesheet 30, these apertures 31 being, however, preferably uniform in width.

Fig. 6 represents the effect of extreme contraction upon the sheet in connection with the tracker-bar 28, while Fig. 7 represents the effect of extreme expansion upon the same sheet with the same tracker-bar, the amount of contraction and expansion being represented by comparison of the edges of the sheet in each case with the line 32, representing the normal width of the sheet. It will be observed that the area of tracker-bar aperture exposed is the same in the three instances represented in Figs. 5, 6, and '7, that area being the full width of the note-sheet perforation'in each case, the extent of this constant area being in accordance with the requirements of the notesounding devices.

Figs. 11 and 12 represent a music-sheet and tracker-bar in which my improved arrangement is modified chiefly in the respect that the variations in pitch are arranged in groups or zones instead of increasing uniformly at each aperture. This is best illustrated in Fig. 12, in which the trackenbar 35 is divided into the zones to b c d, dad, each of these zones comprising the apertures which most nearly coincide with. the scale of inches represented below the tracker-bar 35, extending laterally from the longitudinal base or zero line 88 of the sheet and tracker-bar, it being assumed that this line will be maintained in substantially constant relation to the tracker-bar while in operation. The apertures comprised in each of these zones are equal in width throughout that zone; but their width increases in the succeeding zones in accordance with the ratio of expansion and contraction of the material. This approximation to the theoretical requirement is found to be sufficiently close for all practical purposes, is more conveniently applied in practice, and is therefore preferred for most conditions of service.

A further feature of this invention is illustrated in Figs. 11, 12, and l3namely, that whereby allowance is made for slight lateral displacement of the entire note-sheet in addition to the provision for expansion and contraction hereinbefore explained the aperture 36, which is here assumed to be in the longitudinal center line 38 of the sheet or in that portion thereof which is guided in coincidence with its corresponding portion of the tracker-bar, is here shown to be three times the width of the perforations 39 of the musicsheet 40, and an equal width is also added to each of the other tracker-apertures above and beyond the width required to be allowed for contraction and expansion. Therefore if the note-sheet should be displaced laterally in either direction, as shown in Fig. 13, to an extent equaling the width of one of its own apertures it will still remain in operative coincidence with all of the apertures in the tracker-bar and will still allow for the further variation by contraction or expansion of the sheet, as illustrated by the left-hand apertures of the note-sheet 40 in Fig. 13.

In proportioning the perforations of the note-sheet on this improved system it is only necessary to make them of a width suitable for the proper performance of their respective functions, inasmuch as that width is never reduced by the lateral expansion, contraction, or displacement of the note-sheet, as in the former methods illustrated in Figs. 8, 9, and 10.

In the methods herein illustrated the longitudinal center of the sheet is taken as the basis or starting-point, and the increase in the pitch ratio is shown to extend in each direction from its longitudinal center, it being assumed that this center is to be maintained in coincidence with the center of the trackerbar, the lateral expansion of the paper being thereby made substantially equal in both directions toward its edges. This longitudinal center of the paper web may be maintained IIO in coincidence with the center of the trackerbar by means of the guiding-rollers over which the web passes or in any of several well-known ways. The paper web may also be guided with reference to one of its edges and that edge taken as a basis or startingpoint from which the varying pitch is computed and arranged; but the arrangement herein shown of considering the longitudinal center of the sheet as the basis is preferable wherever it can be employed, inasmuch as it permits the use of a narrower music-sheet and a more compact arrangement of the actuated devices.

It is important that proper consideration be given to the condition of the paper at the time it is perforated. If perforated while in its condition of extreme contraction, (shown in Fig. 6,) the perforations should be spaced to suit that condition, substantially as shown in that figure, making allowance for the full expansion therefrom. On the other hand, if the sheets were to be perforated while in the fully-expanded condition (shown in Fig. 7) the perforations should be spaced substantially as shown in that figure, allowing for the full amount of contraction. It is considered preferable, however, to perforate the paper while it is in a normal or mean condition between these two extremes, substantially as shown in Fig. 5, wherein the allowance for contraction and expansion is shown to be substantially equal. It is found in practice that the average condition of paper is somewhat narrower than that shown in Fig. 5that is to say, nearer to its contracted condition (shown in Fig. 6)or, in other words, the expansion of paper from its average normal condition is generally found to be greater under conditions of extreme humidity than its contraction therefrom in conditions of extreme dryness; but for convenience in illustrating and dgscribing the invention the normal or mean condition of the music-sheet (shown in Fig. 5) is assumed to be midway between the extremes of contraction and expansion. (Shown in Figs. 6 and -7, respectively.)

The pitch ratio of the apertures cannot ordinarily be exactly equal to the ratio or coefficient of expansion of the note-sheet, inasmuch as a constant must be added to each'succcedin g space to allow for the thickness of the walls or partitions between the tracker-bar apertures, those partitions being ordinarily and preferably uniform in thickness. Still another constant must also be added where provision is made for lateral divergence in the travel of the sheet, as illustrated in Figs. 11, 12, and 13. This, however, may be varied and additional provisions made for special conditions and contingencies without depar ing from the essential features of this invention, which relates to the pitch spacing and proportioning of the apertures substantially in accordance with the ratio of expansion or contraction of the medium of which the music-sheet is composed.

In arranging the apertures of the musicsheet and of the tracker-bar upon the zone system it is not essential that the zones should be of equal width, this being a matter to be determined by the conditions of each specific case. The zones, however, should not be too wide. Otherwise the lateral divergence due to the expansion and contraction of the sheet at these zones will aifect the proper registration, and thus be open to the objections hereinbefore recited with reference to a wide note-sheet. lVithin these limitations, 110wever, the zones may vary in width or number of apertures. It may, for example, sometimes be convenient or desirable to arrange in a single zone the perforations which are to actuate a particular string or section of the instrument to be operated or in a similar way to group the various functions thereof.

These improvements may be applied to or embodied in machines or instruments which are operated by means of mechanical or electrical devices instead of pneumatic apparatus or in which the tracker-bars are provided with tongues, lingers, feelers, or similar devices, operated either by perforations in the note-sheet, as here shown, or by means of projecting tongues or similar devices attached to a controlling-sheet which is liable to contraction or expansion under the influences to which it is to be subjected.

I claim as my invention 1. In a machine operated by a controllingsheet of contractible or expansible material, a series of actuating devices arranged with an increasing pitch substantially in accordance with the ratio of lateral contraction or expansion of the sheet material.

2. In combination with a perforated sheet of contractible or expansible material, a trackerbar provided with apertures arranged with an increasing pitch substantially in accordance with the ratio of lateral contraction or expansion of the note-sheet.

3. In combination with a perforated notesheet of contractible or expansible material, a tracker-bar provided with apertures varispaced in an increasing pitch substantially in accordance with the varying lateral movements of the corresponding portions of the note-sheet, due to contraction or expansion.

4:. In combination with a perforated notesheet of contractible or expansible material, a tracker-bar provided with apertures each of a width substantially equal to that of its corresponding note-sheet perforation plus the lateral movement of that perforation due to the contraction or expansion or shifting of the sheet.

5. In combination with a perforated notesheet of contractible or expansible material, a tracker-bar provided with a series of apertures arranged and proportioned in increasing Width in accordance with the ratio of contraction or expansion of the note-sheet from a longitudinal base-line maintained in a 0011- stant relation to the tracker-bar.

6. In combination with a perforated notesheet of contractible or expansible material, a tracker-bar, provided With apertures arranged in a series of zones, the Width of the apertures in each zone being proportioned to allow for the lateral movement of the corresponding perforations of the note-sheet due to its contraction and expansion or shifting.

7. A controlling-sheet of the class specified, having its actuating devices spaced laterally of the sheet at increasing distances from each other substantially in accordance with the ratio of expansion or contraction of the sheet.

8. A controlling note or tally sheet having its actuating devices spaced laterally of the sheet from a longitudinal base-line at increasing distances from each other substantially in accordance with the ratio of expansion or contraction of the sheet from that line.

9. A controlling note or tally sheet having itsactuating devices varispaced laterally of the sheet from a longitudinal base-line, in an increasing ratio substantiallyin accordance with the contraction or expansion of the sheet.

10. A perforated note-sheet having rows of actuating perforations varispaced laterally of the sheet from a longitudinal base-line at increasing distances from each other substantially in accordance with the ratio of contraction and expansion of the sheet.

11. A perforated note or tally sheet, having its rows of actuating perforations varispaced from its longitudinal center at increasing distances from each other laterally toward itsedges in a proportion substantially in accordance With that of the contraction and expansion of the sheet.

12. A controlling-sheet of the class specified, having its actuating devices arranged in a series of longitudinal zones, the lateral pitch of the devices in each zone being greater than the pitch of the preceding zone substantially in accordance with the lateral movements of that zone due to the contraction and expansion of the sheet.

13. The combination of a perforated notesheet of contractible and expansible material, and a tracker-bar, having their cooperating apertures arranged in zones, the width and pitch of the apertures of the tracker-bar, and the pitch of the note-apertures in each zone being proportioned to the lateral movement of that zone due to the contraction and expansion of the note-sheet.

14. The combination of a perforated notesheet of contractible and expansible material, and a tracker-bar, having their cooperating apertures arranged in a series of longitudinal zones, the Width and pitch of the apertures of the tracker-bar, and the pitch of the noteapertures in each zone being proportional to the lateral movements of that zone, due to the contraction and expansion of the sheet, and increasing in the succeeding zones in proportion to their respective distances from a longitudinalbase-line, to he maintained in a constant relation to the tracker-bar.

Signed at New York, N. Y., this 1st day of February, 1900.

JAMES OOONNOR.

Witnesses: I

CHARLES HnnsoHEL KoYL, ARTHUR (Joni-tow.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 661,920, granted November 18, 1900, upon the application of James OConnor, of New York, N. 1., errors appear in the printed specification requiring correction, as follows: In the grant and at the head of the printed specification and drawing the title of the invention should read Self-Playing Musical Instruments and Note-Sheets Therefor, instead of Self-Playing Musical Instruments, and in line 95, page 3, of the printed specification, after the Word explained a period should be inserted, thus completing the sentence, and the following Word the should commence With a capital T and that the said Letters Patent should read With these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed, countersigned, and sealed this 27th day of November, A. D., 1900.

[SEAL] F. L. CAMPBELL,

Assistant Secretary of the Interior.

Oountersigned O. H. DUELL,

Commissioner of Patents.

Corrections in Letters Patent No. 661,920.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 661,920, granted November 13, 1900, upon the application of James OConnor, of New York, N. Y., errors appear in the printed. specification requiring correction, as follows: In the grant and at the head of the printed specification and drawing the title of the invention should read Self-Playing Musical Instruments and Note-Sheets Therefor, instead of Self-Playing Musical Instruments, and in line 95, page 3, of the printed specification, after the Word explained a period should be inserted, thus completing the sentence, and the following word the should commence with a capital T and that the said Letters Patent should read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Ofiice.

Signed, countersigned, and sealed this 27th day of November, A. D., 1900.

[SEAL] F. L. CAMPBELL,

Assistant Secretary of the Interior.

Oountersigned O. H. DUELL,

Commissioner of Patents. 

